Nail set and holder.



No. 762,258. PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904.

L. S. STARRETT.

NAIL SET AND HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1902.

UNITED STATES Patented June 7, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

LAROY S. STARRETT, OF ATHOL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE L. S. STARRETT COMPANY, OF ATHOL, MASSACHUSETTS.

NAIL SET AND HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No 762,258, dated June '7', 1904. Application filed November 3,1902. Serial No. 129,793. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAROY S. STARRETT, of Athol, in the county of WVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Nail Sets and Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention improves the common nailset by providing its tapering tip portion with a nail-holding spring-finger self-fastened at one end to the larger part of the taper and having toward or at its free end a raised portion adapted to facilitate admission of the brad or nail sidewise or endwise transversely between the tool-tip and finger. The tapered portion of the tool is grooved longitudinally to admit the body of the spring-finger and has a transverse notch or shallow groove near its tip, forming a seat for the nail held therein by the spring in readiness for driving.

My object is to adapt a common nail-set to hold small nails or brads in position to be driven by an ordinary hammer without danger of pounding ones fingers at the start.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of one of my improved tools. Fig. 2 is a top plan of the same. Fig. 3

shows the tool with the extreme tip of they spring raised. Figs. 4 and 5 represent the two forms of spring-finger ready for application to the tool. Fig. 6 is an'enlarged crosssection at 6 6, Fig. 2.

The body A of the tool has a milled central portion B for conveniencein holding it and a tapered tip portion (3, to which my improvement is applied. This is best accomplished as shown in the drawings.

The nail-holder D is a spring-finger, preferably formed of music-wire, its main portion running about parallel with the tapering surface and sunken in a groove therein. The

fixed end E of this finger or holding-wire is offset or stands at about a right angle to such main portion and enters a perforation extending through the larger end of part C at the end of said groove. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, this transverse end of the spring-finger is somewhat bent centrally, so that when forced into said perforation it will hold frictionally without other fastening and can be readily removed and replaced.

To facilitate insertion of the nail or brad to be held, the finger D has a raised portion F either at its extreme tip, as in Figs-3 and 5, or at a point adjacent thereto, as in Figs. 1 and 4:. The nail is first placed under the raised part F and then moved sidewise a short distance to slightly lift the finger-tip out of its groove, so that the nail may be held by its pressure.

I In order to locate the nail advantageously and hold it at right angles to the tool-axis, I form beneath the free end of the finger a minute transverse notch Gr across the small end of the tapering tip C or in the under surface of the wire. This notch serves as a seat for the nail until the workman strikes the first blow, partly driving the nail. Then the tool is removed and the nail driven home and set in the usual manner, the tool-tip being formed with a slight terminal socket. The tapering tip 0 may be somewhat cut away under the raised portion of the spring-finger D, as shown at H, Figs. 1 and 2, to facilitate insertion of the nail.

I claim as my invention The described nail set and holder, comprising the cylindrical body having a tapered end portion with a transverse perforation near its larger end, in combination with an elastic nail-holding finger formed with a bent terminal ofiset, bearing frictionally in said perforation and a transverse seat for the nail in said body or finger, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. LAROY S. STARRETT.

Witnesses:

FRANK E. WING, 'VVILLARD Gr. NIMs. 

